Knuckle connection and drive for vehicle-wheels.



L. MAYER. KNUCKLE CONNECTION AND DRIVE PCR VEHICLE WHEELS;

APPLICATION FILED M AY 5, 191C.

1,027, 1 37. A Pateted May 21,1912.

Y 5 7443/6. I l l 6' WJ Wmay 1 n', XM v y v K y y noms 'Mmmm oF MANKATO,MINNESOTA.

l KNUCKLE coNNEcTIoN AND DRIVE FOR VEHICLEWHEELS,` r

To all whom it lmay concern:

Be it known that l, Loris 'MAYER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Mankato, in the county of Blue Earth andState of Minnesota,have inventedl'certain new and useful Improvements in'KnuckleConnections and Drives for Vehicle-lvheels; and l do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full` clear, and exact description 'of the invention`such as will enable others skilledr in the art to which itappertainstomake and use the same.

My present inventionhas for its object to provide an improved knuckleconnection and drive for automobiles or motor propelled vehicles andto-this end, it consists of the novel devices and combinations of `deviceshereinafter described and defined in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings rwhich illustrate the invention, likecharacters infdicate like parts throughout thel several views.

Referringto the drawings, Figure 1 is a' fragmentary plan view, showinga portion of the `running gear of an' automobile and illustrating 1n`yinvention as incorporatedtherein; Fig.` 2 is a vertical section taken onthe line g of Fig. 1, some parts being broken away; Fig. 3 is ahorizontal section taken on the line :1:3 w3 of Figi` 2, some partsbeing broken away; Fig. 4 is a detail of a so-called driving knuckle;and Fig. 5 is a section on the line air :125 of Fig-4.

It may here statedthat, in the drawings, my present invention is s'hownas in-f corporated ina vehicle running gear of the l Vehicle ruiminggear.

type disclosed and claimedin my companion appli :ation` filed of dateunder Serial Number 559,543 and The numeral 1 indicates the rectangulary frame of the running. gear, to which the tubular axle 2 is rigidlysecured. 4Thesaid axle Cmaybe assumed tobe either the front orthe rearaxle of the vehicle.

' The numeral 3V lndicates `ank elliptical` spring Whliclnas showin,issecured to the sleeve-like hub lof a divided gear case 4, the

.main sections of which are detachably .but rigidly connected by smallnutted bolts 5.V

Also,` the 4gear case LLis provided with ay sleeve-like approximately"radial bearing hub 6 detachably secured` theretov by bolts 7. Theend ofthe 'axle 2 projectsinto and nearly through the gearv case and jouryspecification of Letters Patent. 'i Application led Hay 5, 1910. SerialNo. 559,544.

May 5th,A` 1910l `nally V-grooved ball runway entitled Patented May 21,1912.

naled thereon is a sleeve-like driving hub S, bearing rollers El beingpreferably applied in the said journal. The drivingfluib S carries or issecured to ya bevel gear 10 that meshes with a bevel pinion 11. carriedby the end of a driving sha't't 1;) that is journaled tothe bearingl hub(3, preferably, by a ball bearing 13. The shaitl, as shown, is extendedthrouglil a tubular casing 1l se# cured to the hub 6. The said shaft k1Lis positively driven from the vehicle propelling motor in some suitableway as, for instance, by the mechanism disclosed and claimed in my saidrcoi'i'ipanion application tiled of date Mayth, 1910 under Serial Number559,543 and entitled Vehicle running` gear. As shown, the ball bearingde-l vicel is interposed between the inner wall of the gear case 4 and aflange ofthe driv. ing h'ub 8, to take the end thrust of the saiddriving hub.

The wheel shown is of the type disclosed and claimed in my companionapplication entitled Improved wheel and journal," and, as shown, itcomprises a tire 16, risn 17, spokes 18and a 'hub 19 having` a disk-'liketlange 20, to which. thev spokes 1S are gagement with a cylindricalflange Q3 that lprojects inward 4from the hub flange Q0.

The wheel 1s journaled on a tubular wheel trunnipon 24, around which issecured,- as shown, by threaded engagement., an exter- Bearing balls 26are interposedv between the ball run- Way Q5 and a circumferen-tiallysplit ball runway 27seated within thecylindrieal hub flange 23. ThetrunnionZ-l isprovided, just outward of -the ball runway withanoutwardly extended retainingflan'ge Q8.

and outward-.of the said flange it is formed Wit-ha segmentalcylindricabeso-called `knuckle boxj'29, lthe upper and lower ex-.t-remitiesjof whlich are flat. This segmental kntlckle boxy 29 vlitsover` and works pivot.-

ally on a vcorrespondingly formed segmental knuckle box 3VO castintegral with the outer section of the ,ge-ar case4. rfhe two segu'`mental knuckle boxes 29e-,30 are pivotally connectedlat 31, as shown,Vby axially alined .vertical machine screws or bolts, which af.

ford a pivotal connection between the gear case and the wheel trunnion,so that the wheel is mounted for steering movements on a pivot having avertical axis. i

The wheel is interlocked to the wheel trunnion with freedom forrotation, by a lock ring 32 which, as shown` is screwed into theprojecting end of the hub flange 23 and overlaps the trunnion flange 28.As more fully disclosed in my companion application filed of date May5th, 1910 under Serial Number 559,542 and entitled Improved wheel andjournal, the ring 32 is split or divided, so that it may be placed inworking position over the knuckle box 29.

To transmit the driving force from the gear hub 8 to the wheel hub 19,the said members, at their opposing ends, are formed with square orangular seats that receive the square or angular heads of a drivingknuckle 33, which is in the form of a short metal link. The squared endsof this driving knuckle are rounded longitudinally thereof, so as topermit the required oscillatory movements of the said knuckle when thewheel is moved on the pivot 31. This knuckle connection between thedrivlng and driven members will transmit motion to the `wheel under allpositions of the wheel trunnion and affords a construction which may bevery quickly put together or taken apart for repairs. The coperatingknuckle boxes 29-30, while capable of pivotal movements A one4 on theother, nevertheless, afford a close housing for the driving knuckle andits connections and protect the samel from Ldir-t 1. In a vehiclerunning gear, the combination with pivotally connected knuckle boxes,one of which is'secured to'a fixed part of the vehicle frame and theother of which is provided with a wheel trunnion,rof a Wheel journaledon said trunnion, a driving hu'b extending into the relatively xedknuckle box, a wheel hub extending into the relatively movable knucklebox, and a driving link extending across the axis'of said pivotalconnection and connecting the said two hubs on opposite sides of saidaxis but per- .mitting pivotal movement of the said trunnion,substantially as described.

2. In a vehicle running gear, the combination with pivotally connectedknuckle boxes, one of which is secured to a xed part of the vehicleframe and the other of which -is provided with a wheel trunnion, of awheel journaled on said trunnion, a driving hub extending into therelatively fixed knuckle box, a wheel hub extending into the relativelymovable knuckle box, and a driving link extending across the axis ofsaid pivotal connection and having angular heads detachably seated inthe opposite ends of said driving hub and said wheel hub and serving totransmit motion from the former to the latter while permitting pivotalmovement of said trunnion, substantially as described.

3. In a vehicle running gear, the combination With a fixed axle and agear case secured thereto, the end of said axle prt jecting into saidgear case, a beveled gear in said gear case journaled on the said end ofsaid axle and provided with a driving hub, said gear case having at oneside a segmental knuckle box, a driving shaft extending into said gearcase and provided with a pinion meshing with said gear, a tubular wheeltrunnion provided with a segmental vknuckle box pivotally connected tothe knuckle box of said gear case by vertically alined and spaced pivotjoints, a wheel journaled on said wheel trunnion and provided with a hubextending into the same, and a drivi'ng knuckle located within thepivotally connected `knuckle boxes and having angular ends` seated inthe opposing ends of the driving hub of said gear and of the' hub ofsaid wheel, substantially as described.

4. In aj -vehicle running gear, the combination with a xedaxle and agear case secured thereto, the end of said axle projecting into saidgear case, a gear in said gear case, having a hub telescoped over theprojectingend of said axle, and anti-friction devices interposed betweenthe projectingI end of'said axle and the lhub of said gear,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

LOUIS MAYER.

Witnesses:

ALICE V. Swanson, HARRY D. KILGORE.

